Almost a quarter say damage to hire car not their fault

"It wasn’t my fault" said almost a quarter of car hire drivers who have had to claim for damage on a hire car.

iCarhireinsurance.com, the leading provider of specialist car hire excess insurance, analysed its claims from 1 January 2014 until 30 September 2015, and found that in 23% of claims, the claimant said the damage to the hire car was not their fault.

Returning to a parked car and finding it scraped, scratched or damaged in any way accounted for over three-quarters (74%) of these ‘not my fault’ claims, demonstrating that it doesn’t matter how good a driver you are, a simple visit to the supermarket can result in someone scratching the car with their trolley.

Other ‘not my fault’ excuses included a collision with an animal (a deer / kangaroo / dog and boar were all given); vandalism or theft (Italy and Portugal had the highest number of incidents); and the hire car having pre-existing damage in the hirer’s opinion i.e., when damage was not recorded on the rental company's check-out sheet but the hirer insists it was already there when they collected the hire car.

Many customers are unaware, until they collect their hire car, that in the event of damage or the car being stolen, even if it’s not their fault, they are liable for excess charges of up to £2000. At this point, unless they purchase excess protection from the rental-desk, they are left exposed. These policies are usually expensive, approximately £15 a day and limited in scope.

iCarhireinsurance.com’s excess insurance costs from £2.99 a day and it also protects vulnerable parts of the rental vehicle that are usually excluded in the rental companies’ policies. For example, a consumer would save over £100 with an iCarhireinsurance.com policy, costing £23.92, compared to buying an excess waiver product for £138 from Europcar in Tenerife this Easter (26 March to 2 April 2016).

Ernesto Suarez, CEO and founder of iCarhireinsurance.com, said: “It doesn’t matter how good a driver you are, if your hire car gets damaged you will be held liable by the rental company whether it was your fault or not. When a small scratch down the side of the car can cost hundreds of pounds to fix, it’s important that hire car drivers protect themselves against a high excess with a specialist car hire excess insurance policy, like iCarhireinsurance’s, whilst also saving money at the rental desk.”

As well as daily cover from just £2.99, iCarhireinsurance.com also offers annual cover from £37.99.

Key Benefits of Stand-Alone Car Hire Excess Policies

Annual or Daily cover

Protect yourself against excess charges for damage and theft

Cover for damage to areas usually excluded by the rental company such as windscreens, tyres, roof and undercarriage